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PVC's / anxiety.. what is causing what?
Hello, So I have had panic attacks since I was 17 years old. I am now 34. Female. Pretty healthy. 5'5. 130lbs. Do not drink, smoke, drugs, ever. Do not drink any form of caffiene. Except for the chocolate on occasion. Eat pretty healthy, lots of fruit, vegtables, fish, salads ect.. When my panic attacks started, they were a racing heart. shortness of breath, hyperventilating, really scary, and new. I rushed myself to the ER many times. But once I got there. Nothing. Years passed.. and I slowly got better from 18 to 23, I didn't have them too much. I had trained myself to be able to stop it before it got out of control, and calm myself down. At age 24 I remember sitting on the sofa watching jaws of all things. And thats when it happened. My first (felt) PVC.
In fact it was one after the other after the other! I rushed myself to the ER, driving thru red lights and all. Knowing that I was going to die. When I arrived, they had calmed down, and I was told I was fine. Panic attack. I took my first anti anxiety Oxezepam 10mg and went home. I remember although its been awhile that for weeks after that, I was living in terror. I mean.. I know my heart is going to stop any second and die terror. I was literally a prisoner of fear. Scared to go anywhere, do anything. Go to work, I was embarrassed that I was freaking out, and scared. I went to a cardiologist that did an ECHOCARDIOGRAM, and said my heart was normal, although possible BENIGN MITRAL VALVE PROLAPSE. AND BENIGN PVC'S. He wrote on the paper.. " you are fine, take anti anxiety, and cut out the cheese out of your diet." after that, I don't remember how long it took.. but it came and went. sometimes I was totally fine. and some days or nights especially I could feel it do a skipped beat followed by a stronger one here and there, sometimes for hours in a row, and the anti anxiety did help.
Between 26 and 33 those years, I didn't have any major panic attacks anymore. I knew how to talk myself out of it before it blew up. And I felt the pvc's some weak, and sometimes a really strong one that litteraly took my breath away,and makes me want to cough, for some reason when it happens, but I would feel them sometimes one a day, sometimes one a week, or a month, or months of nothing at all. I was living my life, and able to even do a little traveling, go on dates, go to the movies, and be " normal" as I can be with this disorder... SUDDENLY, about A WEEK AGO, NOW 34.. I felt a really strong palpatation (pvc), ignored it as my usual. and then felt another. and another.. Hmmmm.. ugh oh. Kept feeling them, all day, maybe 10 an hour. Now I'm scared. worked up. Went right down to my cardiologist whom I have not been to or seen in 10 years! and he did EKG, totally normal. Then took blood. Normal on mag/pottassian/ thyroid, ect ect.. Then he put a event monitor on me.
I've been wearing it for 6 days now. Its caught many many of these pvc's that I have now been having for 6 days. straight. non stop. I don't feel them when I sleep, but I feel it the second I open my eyes in the morning til I go to sleep. sometimes more when I get up to walk around the house. take a shower. brush my hair. do the dishes, simple activities. also when I'm laying down, or sitting too though. just seems like maybe not quite as many. They are all really strong feeling. I've had 3 EKG's this week. All normal. 2 blood test testing for all that they do.. and normal. My cardiologist called me and said he is seeing my event monitor activity and that I'm having benign PVC's. and that they are not dangerous. BUT NO MATTER WHAT HE SAY'S FOR SOME REASON.. I CAN'T STOP CRYING AND BEING UPSET ALL DAY, WAITING ON EDGE FOR THE NEXT ONE, THINKING about ALL THE THINGS IN LIFE I CANNOT HANDLE OR DO WITH THESE PVC'S. I ALSO KEEP THINKING CAN I SUDDENLY BE GETTING HEART DISEASE AND THATS WHATS INCREASING THEM NOW? ALTHOUGH I HAVE HAD THEM FOR 10 YEARS. JUST NOT THIS MUCH, THIS MANY. THIS IS UNBEARABLE TO ME. I AM VERY UPSET, AND WONDERING IF THATS MAKING THEM WORSE AND WORSE. I'M SCARED TO TAKE MEDICATIONS OTHER THAN ANTI ANXIETY, BUT MY OXEZEPAM 10MG IS NO LONGER HELPING THEM ANYHOW. I AM A NERVOUS WRECK, ANGRY AND UPSET AT THE SAME TIME. I KEEP THINKING HOW CAN I HAVE GONE 10 YEARS WITH THEM BEING BEARABLE.. ONCE IN A WHILE TO ALL THE SUDDEN ALL DAY LONG? WILL THEY CALM DOWN AGAIN? OR IS THIS HOW ITS GOING TO BE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE???...
In fact it was one after the other after the other! I rushed myself to the ER, driving thru red lights and all. Knowing that I was going to die. When I arrived, they had calmed down, and I was told I was fine. Panic attack. I took my first anti anxiety Oxezepam 10mg and went home. I remember although its been awhile that for weeks after that, I was living in terror. I mean.. I know my heart is going to stop any second and die terror. I was literally a prisoner of fear. Scared to go anywhere, do anything. Go to work, I was embarrassed that I was freaking out, and scared. I went to a cardiologist that did an ECHOCARDIOGRAM, and said my heart was normal, although possible BENIGN MITRAL VALVE PROLAPSE. AND BENIGN PVC'S. He wrote on the paper.. " you are fine, take anti anxiety, and cut out the cheese out of your diet." after that, I don't remember how long it took.. but it came and went. sometimes I was totally fine. and some days or nights especially I could feel it do a skipped beat followed by a stronger one here and there, sometimes for hours in a row, and the anti anxiety did help.
Between 26 and 33 those years, I didn't have any major panic attacks anymore. I knew how to talk myself out of it before it blew up. And I felt the pvc's some weak, and sometimes a really strong one that litteraly took my breath away,and makes me want to cough, for some reason when it happens, but I would feel them sometimes one a day, sometimes one a week, or a month, or months of nothing at all. I was living my life, and able to even do a little traveling, go on dates, go to the movies, and be " normal" as I can be with this disorder... SUDDENLY, about A WEEK AGO, NOW 34.. I felt a really strong palpatation (pvc), ignored it as my usual. and then felt another. and another.. Hmmmm.. ugh oh. Kept feeling them, all day, maybe 10 an hour. Now I'm scared. worked up. Went right down to my cardiologist whom I have not been to or seen in 10 years! and he did EKG, totally normal. Then took blood. Normal on mag/pottassian/ thyroid, ect ect.. Then he put a event monitor on me.
I've been wearing it for 6 days now. Its caught many many of these pvc's that I have now been having for 6 days. straight. non stop. I don't feel them when I sleep, but I feel it the second I open my eyes in the morning til I go to sleep. sometimes more when I get up to walk around the house. take a shower. brush my hair. do the dishes, simple activities. also when I'm laying down, or sitting too though. just seems like maybe not quite as many. They are all really strong feeling. I've had 3 EKG's this week. All normal. 2 blood test testing for all that they do.. and normal. My cardiologist called me and said he is seeing my event monitor activity and that I'm having benign PVC's. and that they are not dangerous. BUT NO MATTER WHAT HE SAY'S FOR SOME REASON.. I CAN'T STOP CRYING AND BEING UPSET ALL DAY, WAITING ON EDGE FOR THE NEXT ONE, THINKING about ALL THE THINGS IN LIFE I CANNOT HANDLE OR DO WITH THESE PVC'S. I ALSO KEEP THINKING CAN I SUDDENLY BE GETTING HEART DISEASE AND THATS WHATS INCREASING THEM NOW? ALTHOUGH I HAVE HAD THEM FOR 10 YEARS. JUST NOT THIS MUCH, THIS MANY. THIS IS UNBEARABLE TO ME. I AM VERY UPSET, AND WONDERING IF THATS MAKING THEM WORSE AND WORSE. I'M SCARED TO TAKE MEDICATIONS OTHER THAN ANTI ANXIETY, BUT MY OXEZEPAM 10MG IS NO LONGER HELPING THEM ANYHOW. I AM A NERVOUS WRECK, ANGRY AND UPSET AT THE SAME TIME. I KEEP THINKING HOW CAN I HAVE GONE 10 YEARS WITH THEM BEING BEARABLE.. ONCE IN A WHILE TO ALL THE SUDDEN ALL DAY LONG? WILL THEY CALM DOWN AGAIN? OR IS THIS HOW ITS GOING TO BE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE???...
Thanks for the insightful reply. I'm 54 year old male. Former powerlifting champ, hockey goalie, softball for over 20 years etc. I have had PVC'S, PAC'S, and a few A-fibs thrown in for good measure, for about 30 years. I have backed out of doing most everything because of the fear of having an event somewhere. I've had all the tests, and they have never found anything wrong. They also change. They used to bug me when I worked out. Now the last few weeks, they go off, when I want to go to sleep, or rest. They are there when I wake up. When I get moving, they pretty much go away. I'm on a low dose of Clonazapam, Atenylol, and Multaq. So even though I know they are pretty much harmless, I still cannot get them out of my mind. I monitor every beat. Well I don't think there is anything else that can be said, that hasen't already been said. But thanks for letting me vent. God Bless all you sufferers out there. You are not alone. Mark
I assume you had a 30 day monitor and they caught the fast beat and deemed it anxiety and not svt from an accessory pathway? Svts can definitely be triggered by pvcs. The tell tale sign being the fast beat starts out of no where and stops just as suddenly. Depending on the area where the extra fibers are located the fast rate can be over 200bpm. I had avnrt which was ablated in Sept and my beat would go upwards of 230bpm. I guess I just question the anxiety diagnosis if you wake up with it. That said, some intense dreams wake me up with a fast beat but I could tell the difference between simple fast sinus tachycardia caused by anxiety and an svt. The svt feels just crazy manic where the sinus tachycardia is just fast. Well, regardless you are right, isolated pvcs are nothing to be concerned about and svts are also nothing to be too concerned over in an otherwise healthy heart but if you notice the beat starts up without any sort of a stress response you may want to look into svt. The most common ones are pretty easy to fix. You would still be left with the pvcs but the racing heart would stop if you do indeed have svt and not anxiety. I am sure you checked all into this but just thought I would pass on my thoughts. Take care.
Great story and very typical. I'm actually a physician who had my first panic attack 2 years ago. Crazy eh(no pun intended). I was at the gym, had my FIRST PVC ever...though I was having a heart attack (at 33 in great shape). went to Emerg..Had another PVC on my EKG..basically spent three months in absolute fear with the thought i had some weird cardiac problem untill finally i seen a Cardiologist and came to the conclusion it was panic attacks. I had 3 since (one when I was sleeping). All start the same, a string of a few PVC's and then my heart just goes into overdrive. poudning, racing, shortness of breath, feeling like i'm going crazy and a bit detached. I know it know and can deal with it. But obviosuly, i still get PVC's between these episodes. They still freak me out even though I know 100% then are normal.
During this time,i did alot of research on PubMed.com (which is where physicians and scientists get heath research data). there is one VERY large study looking at the incidence of PVC's in all age groups. They put monitors are people, from age 20 up and looked at how many had PVC's. As we age, the incidence goes up. However....70% of all people younger than 50 get them with nearly 100% of people over 50 having them,But for somereason, we are more "sensitive."
They are normal parts of the heart and are meaningless.
What happens normally, is your atrium fills with blood that is returning from you body's veins, the atrium contracts propelling blood into you ventricle, your ventricle then contracts propelling blood to your body. This is all coordinated nicely. With a PVC, your ventricle fires and contracts randomly before the atrium has time to fill it. So what happens is two things...(1) There is less blood in your ventricle cause it isnt filled thus if "feels" like you didnt have a heart beat, you did, it was just not strong because there was not as much blood. (2) your atrium can't empty so MORE blood comes into it, basically 2 beats worth of blood becuase it coudlnt empty during the PVC...then, the next beat your atrium empties the extra blood into the ventricle and you have TWICE the blood now. Your ventricle is stretched and this stimulates a larger contraction to propelle more blood, like if you were exercising. The problem is, you feel this larger contaction because its out of context to all the other contractions going on. That is why it feels like a missed beat...then a hard beat. Your heart is just catching up thats all.
I hope that helps some people a little bit. I know how stressfull they are, but i hope you are comforted by some understanding that it is normal.
During this time,i did alot of research on PubMed.com (which is where physicians and scientists get heath research data). there is one VERY large study looking at the incidence of PVC's in all age groups. They put monitors are people, from age 20 up and looked at how many had PVC's. As we age, the incidence goes up. However....70% of all people younger than 50 get them with nearly 100% of people over 50 having them,But for somereason, we are more "sensitive."
They are normal parts of the heart and are meaningless.
What happens normally, is your atrium fills with blood that is returning from you body's veins, the atrium contracts propelling blood into you ventricle, your ventricle then contracts propelling blood to your body. This is all coordinated nicely. With a PVC, your ventricle fires and contracts randomly before the atrium has time to fill it. So what happens is two things...(1) There is less blood in your ventricle cause it isnt filled thus if "feels" like you didnt have a heart beat, you did, it was just not strong because there was not as much blood. (2) your atrium can't empty so MORE blood comes into it, basically 2 beats worth of blood becuase it coudlnt empty during the PVC...then, the next beat your atrium empties the extra blood into the ventricle and you have TWICE the blood now. Your ventricle is stretched and this stimulates a larger contraction to propelle more blood, like if you were exercising. The problem is, you feel this larger contaction because its out of context to all the other contractions going on. That is why it feels like a missed beat...then a hard beat. Your heart is just catching up thats all.
I hope that helps some people a little bit. I know how stressfull they are, but i hope you are comforted by some understanding that it is normal.
I know that there is worse off than I right now. I ALWAYS am aware of this, and since I'm christian, thank god for the blessings he gives me everyday.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss RNRita, and also about your husband Saimon.. My friend who was 35, and a lifelong family friend died too from a cardiac event. He just dropped dead. After he tried to break up a fight. The adrenaline.. or something combined with something wrong in his heart.. I don't know the details.. but this scares me to no end. And another person I knew.. not very well, but heard that he died suddenly from cardiac arrest at 22! in a sauna. From what they said was a " undiagnosed, or known about heart condition! he worked out all the time, was a health freak! not sure if he ever took preformance enhancing things for his muscles though. Not sure. But wow. It is just scary.But what can we do?
I just try to " live" with them, but for me .. it takes my life away. I would love to go to the movies. or a restaurant, or to the gym.. or travel, on an airplane.. be in a relationship where he doesn't think " god whats with this crazy girl and all her ailments??".. I want to be normal. I don't want to live in fear.
I don't want to feel these anymore. .. I'm getting so fed up.
Someone posted that they are not caused by anxiety. That its something wrong with your CNS/ ANS.. or the cells that produce beats in your heart are abnormal. So if thats true.. then all of us have something wrong with our nervous systems and with the cells in our hearts??
I'm sorry to hear about your loss RNRita, and also about your husband Saimon.. My friend who was 35, and a lifelong family friend died too from a cardiac event. He just dropped dead. After he tried to break up a fight. The adrenaline.. or something combined with something wrong in his heart.. I don't know the details.. but this scares me to no end. And another person I knew.. not very well, but heard that he died suddenly from cardiac arrest at 22! in a sauna. From what they said was a " undiagnosed, or known about heart condition! he worked out all the time, was a health freak! not sure if he ever took preformance enhancing things for his muscles though. Not sure. But wow. It is just scary.But what can we do?
I just try to " live" with them, but for me .. it takes my life away. I would love to go to the movies. or a restaurant, or to the gym.. or travel, on an airplane.. be in a relationship where he doesn't think " god whats with this crazy girl and all her ailments??".. I want to be normal. I don't want to live in fear.
I don't want to feel these anymore. .. I'm getting so fed up.
Someone posted that they are not caused by anxiety. That its something wrong with your CNS/ ANS.. or the cells that produce beats in your heart are abnormal. So if thats true.. then all of us have something wrong with our nervous systems and with the cells in our hearts??
Sorry for your friend. I know is not easy to live like this, but for myself it has been very bad year my husband needs a kidney transplant and he is only 32 years old and I can not do anything im not a match.looking at him make me sad and stressed and the pvcs will start,but my life have to keep going. I know there are a lot of people who have worst condition that us.
Everything you talk about, I've had....many, many, many times. You get the idea. It really doesn't matter if they kill me or not. My life was never what it should have been. It never will be. Even when they stop for a few months, I get courage and feel normal, then they will act up and, after being gone for a long time, it all feels new again and I have to learn to live with them ALL OVER AGAIN! It's never ending. I will go through phases where they scare me to death, then I couldn't care less....then, someone will die and I will be very sure that they died from these. We'll never know, I guess. AND I don't think they will ever figure out the fix. I am glad for my silent times. I am very glad for this venue.
I know I sound a bit more "down" today. It is because a very close friend died at 55 two days ago, from a "cardiac event." I will miss him and try not to personalize what happened.
I know I sound a bit more "down" today. It is because a very close friend died at 55 two days ago, from a "cardiac event." I will miss him and try not to personalize what happened.
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